Pony's Creed: Chapter 2; The Way of the Assassin
By Terrarian Pony Previously: Pony's Creed: Chapter 1; Murder Next: Pony's Creed: Chapter 3; A New Sister to the Creed Story: Pony's Creed By Terrarian Pony Chapter 2 The Way of the Assassin ... Octavia's rage turned into fury as she lept of the bed, and began to scream in Vinyl's face, but Vinyl was unflinching. Octavia:" So it WAS you all along! I can't believe it! Why would you do it!? How!? An assassin!? What has become of you after all these years!?" Vinyl:" It wasn't me, Octavia! I didn't kill Coldheart!" Octavia paused, then narrowed her eyes. Octavia:" You lie through your teeth! Have you any honesty at all, Vinyl!? Or has our whole sister-sister relationship been just a lie!" Vinyl's straight face turned into a sad frown. Vinyl:" No Octavia, it isn't. I'm hurt that you would even say that." Octavia:" I saw you, Vinyl! At first, I avoided the thought that it was you all along that I chased down that street, just a month ago. But the mane... it's a dead giveaway, Vinyl! I saw you there!" Vinyl became angry, but not on Tavi's level. Her anger was controlled. Vinyl:" Yeah, I was there! I was there to try to protect Coldheart, even if she was already dead to the heart! But I was too late to save her!" Octavia:" Then look at me, Vinyl! Look me straight in the eyes, and tell me that it wasn't you!" Vinyl:" It wasn't! For Celestia's sake Octavia, why are you yelling at me? She didn't even love you!" Octavia:" But I loved her!" Octavia's rage subsided into soft whimpers. Tears streaked down her face. Vinyl took a deep breathe in before asking Octavia a very personal question. She looked directly into Octavia's eyes and calmly said it. Vinyl:" Why?" Octavia blinked. Then her lips started quiver, but her eyes did not leave Vinyl's. Octavia:" Because I thought I could make her love me if tried hard enough. I loved her because she was my mother. It shouldn't be this complicated to understand. Surely you felt something for her too, didn't you?" Vinyl looked at her sadly. Vinyl:" No. But I promise, I was trying to save her. I can prove it." Vinyl's horn glowed, and she pulled out a letter from her bag. Vinyl:" This is a letter I stole from a messenger." Octavia read the letter. "I've found the one you were talking about. That one they called Coldheart. This'll be an easy target, but I'll need a distraction while I make my way in. The lock is pretty tight, and there are a few gaurds protecting the front of the mansion. I'll start tommorow at 8:00 a.m. Be sure to have that distraction ready."-Burnan Octavia looked up at Vinyl. Octavia:" How did you get this?" Vinyl:" Pickpocketing is easy when you're a unicorn." Octavia sighed. Octavia:" Alright, I believe you. But I'm still sticking to what I said." Vinyl:" About how you loved Mom?" Octavia:" Yes. Call me an idiot, but she was still just a pony. She didn't deserve what had happened to her." Vinyl stared sadly. Vinyl:" I'm sorry I can't agree on that." Octavia:" But if you're an assassin, then why try to protect her? And who the hay is Burnan?" Vinyl:" To answer your second question, Burnan is a traitor of the Ponyhoof of Assassins. As for your first question, I'm not exactly the 'bad' kind of assassin." Octavia:" What do mean you aren't the 'bad' kind of assassin?" Tavia raised a brow. Octavia:" Is there really a good kind?" Vinyl:" I didn't say our business was good, I just said it wasn't bad. There's a difference." The pegasus Octavia learned was Skystriker, a blue coated stallion, with a green mane, and still wearing his cloak, came in the room. Skystriker:" So what are we going to do with her? We can't just trust that she wouldn't expose us." Vinyl scowled at him. Vinyl:" She's my sister, Skystriker. We can trust her." Vinyl then stared at Octavia with a pleading look. Vinyl:" You won't tell anypony, right?" Octavia:" I suppose I don't have a reason too now that I know the truth about my mother's killer." Vinyl:" See, everything will be just fine." Skystriker snorted. Skystriker:" Fine, I'll trust you for now. But you owe me a favor." Octavia's eyes narrowed. Octavia:" Pardon?" Skystriker:" Well, because of your little attempt to strike me, I had missed a perfect opertunity. I was so close striking my target, and a dangerous one at that. Now I'm going to have to explain to Mistress why I hadn't been able to strike my assigned target." Vinyl:" And you'll probably get demoted for your carelessness. Though I'd have to say the same for you Octavia. You can't just attack some suspicious pony without knowing anything about them, and especially when you don't even have a weapon to attack with." Octavia looked half-apologetically at Skystriker. Octavia:" I'm sorry. I justwanted information is all. I thought your group... I thought the assassins were the ones responsible for the death of our mother." Skystriker:" You were close. Burnan betrayed the Ponyhoof to join the Templars, a major enemy of our creed." Octavia:" Templars?" Skystriker:" We've... told you too much already." Vinyl:" Yeah, I think it's best if we don't tell you anymore. You should leave, Skystriker." Skystriker left, and then it was just Vinyl and Octavia. Octavia:" So... what happens now?" Vinyl:" I'll probably be chewed out for telling all that I did. You really weren't supposed to know any of that." Octavia:" Your... Mistress wouldn't kill you... would she?" Vinyl smiled. Vinyl:" Nah, knowing the Mistress, I'll probably just get a lecture." But then Vinyl frowned. Vinyl:" But I just want to warn you, you'll probably be knocked out at some point, and interrigated." Octavia:" What!?" Vinyl:" Yeah, the Creed of Assassins is very set on trying to remain subtle whilst trying to attain peace in Equestria. That's our major goal." Octavia:" Sorry." Vinyl:" Don't worry about it. I'll try to protect you as best as I can, but I can't garentee it, so if you wake up in a strange place, with strange pony's with white hoods and stuff, two things: Try not to panick, and answer any questions they have as best you can. Do you think you can handle that?" Octavia:" I... suppose. They won't kill me, will they. I mean... they are assassins, aren't they?" Vinyl:" We aren't allowed to kill innocence, it's the way of the assassin, or at least not the way of our creed. It's not what we do." Octavia:" But Skystriker... he stabbed me." Octavia lifted a hoof to her bandages. Vinyl:" Yeah, he gets a little... jumpy sometimes, and sometimes he gets the impression that he is above the creed. But I promise, they won't kill you." Octavia felt a little calmer, but something about this was still unsettling to her. Vinyl smiled, and hugged her sister. ... It had been three weeks since Octavia had figured out Vinyl's secret. Since then, she's learned a few things about Vinyl that she didn't even think Vinyl was possibly capable of. For instance, she was able to pick locks, she pickpocketed letters, and sometimes even bits, and she could climb rooftop. Octavia always figured she would be a laze around all day and eat chips kind of mare, though she wouldn't tell Vinyl. Vinyl was never really the eligant type when they were younger. Octavia:" So tell me again why you are hiding in a stack of hay?" Octavia was smiling in amusement to how rediculous it seemed. Vinyl:" Shush Octavia, you'll blow my cover." Octavia looked around. There were a few Ponyville gaurds passing by, only giving Octavia and the talking haystack a glance before resuming patrol. Octavia:" They're gone now, Vinyl. You can come out now." No response. Octavia frowned, dipping the front half of her body into the stack of hay, and feeling around for Vinyl, but she wasn't there. When she came out, the gaurds were looking at her suspiciously. She grinned nervously. Octavia:" What? Never played find the needle in the haystack before?" The gaurds just rolled there eyes and kept on walking. Blushing in embarrasment, Octavia grunted. Octavia:" Darn it, Vinyl. I suppose she always was best at hide and seek." ... Octavia thought up an idea. She decided to head towards the Ponyville library, which was apparently in Princess Twilight's castle. She knocked on the door of the little tree house library, and a purple baby dragon opened the door. Spike:" Hello? Oh hi Octavia. I've never seen you coming around here before." Octavia:" How do you know my name?" Spike:" Just about everypony in Ponyville knows your name by now. I was there at your welcome to Ponyville party that Pinkie threw. And I was at one of your concerts. And me and Twilight passed by you around town a few times." Octavia:" It's only been a month and a half. You say just about everypony here knows me?" Spike:" Yeah. When you come to Ponyville, almost everypony knows everypony's name." Octavia:" Huh. I hadn't noticed. Say, is the librarian around?" Spike:" Twilight's out at the moment. If your looking for a book, I can help you check it out." Octavia:" That would be lovely. I'm looking a very particular book. Do you have anything on the Creed of Assassins?" Spike:" Hmm. I think I might. But why would you want to read about something like that?" Octavia:" Um... I'm a... history enthusiast." Octavia felt guilty for lying through her teeth, but she could expose Vinyl to anypony. Though technically she wasn't lying. She had always wanted to learn more about the history of Equestria, so it was a white lie. Spike showed her to a book called "The Phoenix in the Shadows". It made a little bit of sense, giving that the insignia on the flank of their cloaks resembled the beak of a Phoenix. ... Octavia instantly started reading when she got back home. Just from the first chapter she had figured out that there was a lot of fighting between the assassins, and these red knights called the Templars. Though the Templars were mostly made up of griffins, it seemed that there were also ponies who joined there ranks as well. She also noticed how a lot of the upper class assassins wore hoods that resembled the shape of a phoenix, just like the assassin insignia. The assassins always carried sword with them, however, they also had special hidden spring blades in their sleeves to perform stealth assassinations. That explained what Skystriker did. There was also history about how the assassins were there to either prevent, or resolve certain crisises in Equestria. Suddenly, Vinyl came home, and she instantly hid the book under her bed, bookmarking her current page, and trotted out towards the living room. Octavia:" Vinyl, good to see you home again." Vinyl:" Likewise. I was just delivering a letter is all. Sometimes though, that can be pretty tough with all the gaurds around." Octavia:" Why don't you just leave the cloak at home if your just acting as a courier?" Vinyl:" Because, I might happen upon some dangerous ponies, and I'd need my weapons and armor to take them out. Besides, I usually have to deliver something confidential, and if the wrong pony gets there hooves on it, not only am I screwed, but the entire creed would be in big trouble as well." Octavia:" Really. None of this suprises me anymore. I'm getting in the shower, so don't bother me." Vinyl:" Whatever." ... The next morning, Octavia woke up, and ate breakfast. Watching as Vinyl left the house in her cloak. When Octavia was done, she reached for the book underneathe her bed. But there was something in the page she bookmarked. It looked like the same gauntlet that Vinyl and the other assasins used to hide and hold their silent blades under their sleeves. But why would Vinyl leave her hidden blade behind? But there was something else. A note was stuck to the gauntlet. "A special one, just for you. Use it wisely."-Mistress Octavia gasped. Did they already know about her? Did Vinyl know about this? Many questions came up in Tavi's head. Why would the Mistress just leave this for her? Why give it to her in her sleep? How did she use it? Vinyl didn't exactly give a demenstration. She immediately refused when Octavia asked about it, saying that that is one thing she can't talk about. She strapped the gaunlet to her hoof, just to see how it fits. Then afraid that she might accidentally eject the blade, and poke her own eye out, she immediately took it off. She couldn't let Vinyl see her with this, so she put it in her saddlebags, and headed off to buy some groceries. ... On her way to the store, Octavia happened across an ally, hearing voices, one of them being Bonbon's. Bonbon:" No! Please, no!" ???:" Give it here lady, and I might spare you." Bonbon:" Lyra! Lyraaaaaa! Heeeeelp!" Octavia peeked behind the corner and saw Bonbon being harassed by brute thief. He was an earth pony with a charcoal coat, and a dark brown mane, and he was holding a small knife in his mouth. Octavia knew she had to do something, but what? She glanced at her saddlebags, then reached in and pulled out the device that held the hidden blade. She strapped in on, and struggled to figure out how it worked when suddenly... SWINK! She bent her hoof upwards, and the blade came out. But it didn't look at all like the one Vinyl had. Instead, it looked like the end tip of a cello bow, with a sharp, silver blade attached to the tip of it. She didn't have time to marvel at it, as the theif's blade was getting closer to the candy mare. Octavia ran up to the stallion, and stabbed him in the back with the bladed cello bow. The stallion tried to scream, but his death was so swift and sudden that he couldn't. Bonbon was safe. Octavia:" Are you alright?" Bonbon was shaken pretty badly. There were tears in her eyes. Bonbon:" Y-yeah. Th-thank you. If you had come a minute later..." Octavia:" Sorry, I was having trouble figuring out how it worked." Bonbon:" Well... thank you. I was hoping Lyra would come to my rescue, but I'll take what I can get." Octavia smiled slightly, only for a moment, then looked at her new blade. Octavia:" Y-you won't tell anypony, right? I-I've never killed before, let alone shed blood." Bonbon:" Don't worry. Your secret's safe with me." Octavia was still curious as to why the blade looked so different. Then she thought back to earlier. "A special one, just for you." Octavia couldn't believe what she had done. Her first kill. TO BE CONTINUED... Chapter summary: So yeah! It turns out Vinyl wasn't the one after all, however, she does happen to have a history of assassinating ponies. Octavia reads a book about the history of the Assassin Ponyhoof. The next morning she wakes up and finds a hidden blade under her bed. She happens upon a brute theif trying to steal money from Bonbon, and assassinates him, swiftly, and quietly. Category:Content (Terrarian Pony) Category:Fanfictions Category:Fanfiction (Fanon)